Diana Donnelly News

The Shaw Festival has unearthed a bit of a gem, that in lesser hands may be considered no more than a cubic zirconium. W.S. Gilbert's ENGAGED is a frothy trifle that seems perfect for a midsummer's night. This delightful piece of Victoriana theatre can best be thought of as a play with thin operetta plot (sans music). Gilbert and Sullivan are definitely the better known commodity, but Gilbert did work alone at times and his theatrical pieces are all but forgotten. In ENGAGED Gilbert again shows his adeptness at social commentary, marriage and the quest for wealth.

Ever the consummate commentator of society and gender, Oscar Wilde has never been afraid of controversy or potentially offending member of both sexes. Never has this been more evident than in his 1893 A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, which is receiving a glamorous new production at the Shaw Festival in Niagara on the Lake. 

Curated from deep in the heart of the Shaw Festival's mandate period, Engaged is a hilarious romp through the Scottish countryside where love triangles abound. Written by W.S. Gilbert before his renowned partnership with Arthur Sullivan, Engaged comically comments on the facade of Victorian life, with particular satirical attention on the obsession with wealth. This romantic comedy begins its first engagement at the Royal George Theatre tomorrow, June 15.

A Woman of No Importance, Oscar Wilde's stylish comedy that exposes the cynicism and hypocrisy that underlies high "society", begins previews Sunday, May 29 at the Festival Theatre. This dangerous drama, directed by Eda Holmes, is the fourth major Wilde play to be presented under Artistic Director Jackie Maxwell's tenure - completing Wilde's brilliant, scalpel-like study of the world around him.

Artistic Director Jackie Maxwell and the Shaw Festival announce principal casting and the creative teams for the 2016 playbill. The 2016 season features new and core ensemble members and beloved returning artists celebrating Ms. Maxwell's final season and 14-year tenure at The Shaw.

At the Shaw Festival in its record-breaking 2013 season, all performances of Tom Stoppard's 'Arcadia' sold-out before it opened. With its current revival engagement at Toronto's Royal Alexandra Theatre (with the original Niagara-on-the-Lake cast), many disappointed theatergoers will finally get their chance to enjoy this exceptional production of what is generally regarded as the playwright's most brilliant work... and his most moving.

The Shaw Festival today announced principal casting and creative team details for its 54th season.

David Mirvish brings the The Shaw Festival's acclaimed sold-out hit production of Tom Stoppard's ARCADIA to Toronto. This multilayered masterpiece straddling time and space, order and chaos, is directed by Eda Holmes and begins a strictly limited engagement from November 4th to December 14th at the Royal Alexandra Theatre as the second show in the 2014-15 Mirvish Subscription Season.

For the last decade, the Shaw Festival has been introducing contemporary theatre's most illustrious playwrights into the playbill alongside their classical forebears. Like Bernard Shaw himself, these writers delight in questioning assumptions, subverting expectations and creating compelling theatre that unites head and heart. The 2013 season goes even further with the inclusion of plays by Brian Friel, Tom Stoppard, John Murrell and Adam Guettel.

The Shaw Festival's comedy-infused 49th season kicks off today with preview performances of Mary Chase's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Harvey at the Royal George Theatre. Joseph Ziegler returns to direct this endearing story that dares ask: what truly is a 'perfectly normal human being'?

In the Spirit of George Bernard Shaw, the Shaw Festival provokes the mind and stirs the soul through a theatre experience so compelling that, year after year, ever broadening groups of artists, audiences and supporters are drawn to our work in Niagara-on-the-Lake and beyond.

The Shaw Festival's comedy-infused 49th season kicks off today with preview performances of Mary Chase's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Harvey at the Royal George Theatre. Joseph Ziegler returns to direct this endearing story that dares ask: what truly is a 'perfectly normal human being'?

Manitoba Theatre Centre is excited to continue the 2009-10 Tom Hendry Theatre season with the Tarragon Theatre production of EAST OF BERLIN, by up-and-coming Canadian playwright Hannah Moscovitch.

Manitoba Theatre Centre is excited to continue the 2009-10 Tom Hendry Theatre season with the Tarragon Theatre production of EAST OF BERLIN, by up-and-coming Canadian playwright Hannah Moscovitch.

USA 1962- A late night of drinking for George and Martha erupts into a game of ‘get the guests' in Edward Albee's savage and hilarious masterpiece. Truth and illusion collide in this groundbreaking play that swept the 1963 Tony Awards and is undisputedly one of the finest literary achievements of the 20th Century.

USA 1962- A late night of drinking for George and Martha erupts into a game of ‘get the guests' in Edward Albee's savage and hilarious masterpiece. Truth and illusion collide in this groundbreaking play that swept the 1963 Tony Awards and is undisputedly one of the finest literary achievements of the 20th Century.

Manitoba Theatre Centre is excited to continue the 2009-10 Tom Hendry Theatre season with the Tarragon Theatre production of EAST OF BERLIN, by up-and-coming Canadian playwright Hannah Moscovitch.

Albert Schultz, Founding Artistic Director of Soulpepper Theatre Company, today announced that the company's production of The Guardsman will run August 31 to October 24, 2009, at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts.

Albert Schultz, Founding Artistic Director of Soulpepper Theatre Company, today announced that the company's production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? will run August 29 - October 24, 2009, at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts.

USA 1962- A late night of drinking for George and Martha erupts into a game of ‘get the guests' in Edward Albee's savage and hilarious masterpiece. Truth and illusion collide in this groundbreaking play that swept the 1963 Tony Awards and is undisputedly one of the finest literary achievements of the 20th Century.